Special Offer, 107 Drive-in Theaters

The Skyline, Barstow, California, 2012

Time for an Experiment.

There will be a special print offer here through the month of February. Any picture from my "107 Drive-ins" web gallery will be available as a 9" print on letter-size paper for $66. This is less than half the gallery price for my digital prints.

I have several thoughts in mind here, aside from hoping to stir up a bit of cash flow. I'd like to keep up some awareness about the drive-in theater project as I work on the design, text, and production planning for, "The Book." Also it would be nice to have more fine prints from the project out in the world.

Even though I'm as susceptible as anyone to the allure of a big print, I've also always really liked small, hold-it-in-your-hand photographs. Plus they can be offered for an affordable price, and are easy to ship, even internationally.

The Comanche, Buena Vista, Colorado, 2012

I'll make the prints with my Epson 3880, on exhibition fiber paper.  Epson "Signature Worthy" Ultra Premium Photo Paper Luster.* I think that Epson's Advanced Black & White driver allows for wonderful digital monochrome prints. So another reason you might want to get one or more of these could be to see what I think a really good small monochrome print from a digital capture looks like.

To order, I've set up a link over in the sidebar that will take you to a page at my web site with a feedback link. Use that to order, identifying the picture with its number from the 107 theaters gallery, include "107 DI" in the subject line, let me know whether you'll pay by check or PayPal, and include your postal address for shipping.

*When I began to print orders on EFP, I found the media—this batch at least—riddled with tiny surface defects that interfere with ink adhesion. This "flaking" was a common problem with cotton matte 'fine art' papers in the early days of high-end inkjet printing, but I haven't encountered it in many years. I've made hundreds of prints from letter-size to A3 over the past year with the 3880 on UPL (is Epson having a contest with Ilford for silly, over-elaborate paper names?) and have never spotted a single defect. So I'm trashing the EFP prints and remaking on luster.

FOR SALE

Willimantic, Connecticut

819

Willimantic, Connecticut

Yellow, Red, Green

Willimantic, Connecticut

The gloomy light under a dark sky with approaching storm made the odd color scheme here stand out all the more intensely.

Dish

Manchester, Connecticut

Back on January 16, I took a chance on forecasts of advancing winter storm weather with temperatures that were enough above freezing to allow me to last for more than a few minutes of walkabout shooting. The light was ominous, the mood and color held an intense sense of winter. I spent a little time in Plymouth, then nearly two hours each walking about Manchester and Willimantic—making well over 400 captures in the process—then began the hour and a half drive home from Willimantic just ahead rush hour, as the skies got really dark and the temperatures plummeted. The results have been feeding the blog ever since, and I've done some 11x14-ish trial prints that I think are really persuasive. There's a forecast for similar conditions coming up over the weekend, so I hope to expand this into something along the lines of a, "Winter Light in Central Connecticut," series.

SLIME SQUDD

Manchester, Connecticut

Red Wall, II

Manchester, Connecticut

The color of the red paint was so extraordinary that I stopped to set up a WhiBal card, making sure it didn't pick up any reflected light from the surrounding weird-colored surfaces, and then set a custom white balance for the RAW files for today's pair of pictures. I generally handle white balance in a subjective manner, often taking WB readings for reference, while then frequently setting a balance that isn't technically accurate, but better reflects the mood of the lighting as I saw it. In this case, I wanted the most technically accurate rendering I could get of the odd color, like nailing the exact trademark colors of a product in a commercial shoot.

Red Wall, I

Manchester, Connecticut

Dish

Torrington, Connecticut

Note the rare and archaic remnants of an old-fashioned TV antenna in the upper left corner.

Walls

Manchester, Connecticut

Manchester, Connecticut

Bench

Willimantic, Connecticut

PRAYER TOWER

Manchester, Connecticut

RAILROAD CROSSING

Bristol, Connecticut

ORANGE HALL RENTALS

Manchester, Connecticut

ICE

Bristol, Connecticut

Parking Lots and Side Streets

Manchester, Connecticut

From a week ago, on a dark, overcast day that threatened storm but stayed above the freezing point. It's 1° F this morning, not predicted to get a lot warmer all day, which makes walkabout shooting a bit problematic.

Manchester, Connecticut

Brick Buildings

Torrington, Connecticut

Manchester, Connecticut

MERRY

Hudson, New York

closed

Bristol, Connecticut

Windows and Walls

Willimantic, Connecticut

Willimantic, Connecticut

Purple and White

Manchester, Connecticut

Red, White, and Blue

Bristol, Connecticut

IGLESIA de DIOS

Torrington, Connecticut

PLEASE RECYCLE

Manchester, Connecticut

Side entrance, phone company building.

TAKE A NUMBER

Manchester, Connecticut

City Trees

Torrington, Connecticut

SLOVAK CATHOLIC SOKOL

Torrington, Connecticut

NO TRESPASSING

Woodbury, Connecticut

Torrington, Connecticut

Experience Maibock Beer!

Torrington, Connecticut

I bet someone will be able to tell me what this stuff is, other than part of the only vegetarian food category at the East Side Restaurant.

Protected Fireplug

Waterbury, Connecticut

STOP

Waterbury, Connecticut

Ice

Woodbury, Connecticut

Woodbury, Connecticut

Snow

Woodbury, Connecticut

Eight in the morning, 20° F, 3-4 inches of not-forecast snow, and half the house still has no heat.

Woodbury, Connecticut

They keep forecasting warming, and then keep putting it off. At eight this morning, taking this shot, it was 8° F. Most of the first floor of the house remains cold, too cold to work on anything. So I'm spending the day upstairs with the MacBook and iPhone, trying to get some editing and research done. I think we need a full thaw to get systems working right again, and that's supposed to happen Saturday.

MARSALA OLIVE OIL & WINE GRAPES

Waterbury, Connecticut

From a relatively balmy day in the low thirties last week. Warm enough to rain. This morning it's 3° F, and none of our pipes froze. Steam system is messed up, too much heat upstairs and several dead radiators downstairs, will need to try to rebalance the vents when temperatures get more reasonable.

Sunrise

Woodbury, Connecticut

5° F this morning. Made it through the night but the heat system is stressed out and working poorly.

Hall Rentals

Torrington, Connecticut

More Weird Weather

Woodbury, Connecticut

Around sunrise this morning, about 7:20, it was 54° and waves of fog were rolling off the melting snow cover. The forecast is for temperatures to plunge during the day, dropping to an overnight low of 8°. Our worn-out, needs to be replaced heating system is really getting stressed.

Train Coming Through

Waterbury, Connecticut

Blue and Orange, with a Bit of Yellow

Waterbury, Connecticut

From a week ago, when we were having normal winter weather. Our systems made it through last night's cold, it got up to 26° F this afternoon, and it's only forecast to drop into the teens tonight.